The Brouwerij St. Bernardus in Watou, Belgium, turns 75 this year, and befitting the occasion the brewery shared news about big projects it has planned for this year. For those unfamiliar, St. Bernardus is one of the best-known Belgian breweries to beer fans (at least, outside of Belgium), with highly regarded beers including its Prior 8, Tripel, Abt 12, and Christmas Ale.

The brewery started in 1946 when it was licensed by the Trappist monastery St. Sixtus to brew the Westvleteren beers; this arrangement lasted until 1992 when St. Sixtus brought the brewing of its beers back into its monastery, and St. Bernardus continued to brew and sell the beers under its own label. Word is, the St. Bernardus beers are essentially the same (recipes and yeast) as the Westvleteren beers—but much easier to acquire.

The press release from the brewery is rather long, so I’m breaking it up into sections. First up: the brewery is launching a book: St. Bernardus: A Brewery Hidden in the Hop Fields.

Details from the press release:

In 1946, the brothers Evariste and Antoine Deconinck gradually transformed the cheese factory they had acquired from the Trappist monks of Mont des Cats, who had moved to Watou, into a brewery. They did this at the request of the Trappists of Westvleteren, who had decided to limit their brewing activities to solely supply their own monastic community.

You can learn more about this and other historical facts in the brand-new book that we are launching on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of our brewery. In this book, we discuss our brewing process and delve deeper into the journey of our owners and how we arrived at the point where we are today. But, above all, we wanted to share our passion for our beer and our trade with our readers.

The book dwells on stories of the past, present and future, and offers incentives to set to work with our beers yourself. Just as we are driven to set up sustainable partnerships with local and regional companies and entrepreneurs as part of our daily production, expansion, catering and visitor activities, we decided to apply this philosophy to our book. The beer cocktails were created in collaboration with Deluxe Distillery (Kuurne) and many of the chefs with restaurants in the region were proud to have their St.Bernardus signature dishes featured in the book. As a local brewery, we also want to tell the story of our region and act as a catalyst for the economy and tourism of our wonderful region.

The culinary chapter of our book therefore provides a platform for a group of talented local, regional, national and international chefs, some of whom have already been awarded Michelin stars. Some names? Tim Boury of Restaurant Boury**, Michael & Franky Vanderhaeghe of Hostellerie St.Nicolas**, Bert Recour of Restaurant Pegasus, Raf Sainte of De Gebrande Winning (recently voted best beer restaurant of the world), Johan Vanhaute of Hotel Ariane (voted Belgium’s best hotel every year since 2013), Dirk Battheu of Restaurant ’t Blauwershuys, Nelson Tanate of the Dutch Restaurant De Librije***, Stefaan Coutteneye of Restaurant ’t Hommelhof, Peter Goossens of ’t Hof van Cleve***, Filip Lebbe of our own Bar Bernard and many more.

CEOs Hans and Julie Depypere: “Impeccable quality is paramount in the production of our beer. That is why we also used it as a benchmark for the creation of this book. We are incredibly grateful that so many chefs agreed to cooperate with us, we are very amazed at the efforts of our team that worked so tirelessly on this project but, above all, we are proud that we can share the story of our amazing family brewery in a new way. Bring on another 75 years!”

The book comes in three languages and is 192 pages; it can be purchased from the brewery’s gift and online shops, as well as “quality bookshops and drinks distributors” though I don’t know if those are local to Belgium or have a wider availability.

The next items in the press release are a 75th anniversary beer, and details for the anniversary party (hint: it won’t take place until 2022 because of covid).

Just like we launched a one-off, limited edition beer on the occasion of our 60th anniversary, we will be adding a new limited edition beer to our range before the end of 2021. We will give an update about this new beer this autumn. Are you a fan or a consumer and do you want to be one of the first to be informed? Subscribe to our newsletter on our website.

No birthday would be complete without a party. We initially intended to organise a proper party this summer but, unfortunately, COVID-19 put a stop to that. Don’t worry, this only gives us more time to pull out all the stops and be completely ready by the summer of 2022. So what can you expect? We are planning a multi-day open-air event near the brewery, to be called ‘Barn Bernard’. This Heavenly Event, which will revolve around our peerless Heavenly Nectar, will have a strong (culinary) programme, with a local twist. Anyone who is interested in attending the event should subscribe to our newsletter through our website to get first-hand information about all the details.

The event is also part of Westtoer’s new ‘Grote Goesting’ campaign, which includes dinners in unique locations.

Finally, St. Bernardus Wit is now available in cans. From the press release:

Sales manager Marco Passarella: “A little over a year ago, we launched our first beer in a can (St. Bernardus Tokyo) and we are adding a second name to the range today. St. Bernardus Wit has been on the market for quite some time, but we felt that we could no longer ignore international demand to make this beer available in cans.

In other countries, canned craft beers are quite popular. Our customers realise that cans are easy to take with you, wherever you go. Not having to think about where to leave your empty bottles after an outdoor activity, such as exercise, a picnic or a walk in nature, is so much easier. You take your empty cans home with you and dispose of them in your PMD bag. A can is also a good idea for a refreshing and thirst-quenching summer beer, which you should drink young and ‘fresh’ (i.e., this is not a beer for storing or cellaring). If you want to cellar your beer, you should stick with bottled beers. Our cans have a shelf life of 18 months.

Finally, cans are less heavy and can be fully recycled, which in turn has a positive sustainable environmental impact. Moreover, the can offers more protection against light exposure, which is better for the beer.

That is why we consider St. Bernardus Wit the perfect addition to our range.”

Type & colour
St.Bernardus Wit is a traditional unfiltered Belgian white beer. It was developed in collaboration with Pierre Celis, the legendary master brewer who was the driver of the resurgence of white beer in the 1960s. St.Bernardus Wit looks distinguished and classic with its attractive, golden-yellow colour hidden under a subtle veil – it epitomises the authentic Belgian cloudy white beer.

Charactar – taste – aromas – culinary
St.Bernardus Wit is famed for its zesty tastes of coriander and orange, with background touches of spicy cloves, fragrant with fruit and citrus. These zingy herbs combine with the creaminess of the wheat to produce a beer that is a masterclass in balance. The mild mouth feel produces a lovely interaction between the sweet malty taste and the refreshing touches of acid to produce a feeling of freshness overall.

This incredibly versatile beer can be paired with almost any recipe from anywhere in the world. Its most outstanding role is perhaps that of a refreshing contrast when served with creamy dishes – a risotto for example – or in combination with shell fish and white fish. Do you serve a slice of lemon with your fish? You can echo that or a lemon sauce or dressing with this beer with its strong hints of citrus.